Curse of full-time job

11:47 AM,
Jul. 16, 2013

Froma Harrop

Written by

Froma Harrop

Free time is the great hunger for so many productive Americans, often trumping money. Studies show a huge desire for more self- and family-time, especially among parents. But Americans remain stuck in work schedules drawn up early last century. That doesn't make sense today, so why do we continue punching the old time clocks?

One big reason is that job benefits - above all, health coverage - typically require an eight-hour day, five days a week (or its equivalent). Note that the Affordable Care Act forces larger companies to cover only full-time workers, or pay a penalty.